There was no doubt about the murder weapon. You could see the outline of the horse's hooves... But that was the second murder. When San Francisco private investigator Nick Polo rejoins his date at the races after a rather prolonged trip to the men's room, the first thing she says is "Are you feeling all right?" And the second is "Your zipper's undone." There is reason for both. Polo is not looking too well, and quite understandably. He'd just discovered the dead body of one of his Uncle Pee-Wee's employees, a small-time hood named Johnny Aiello, in one of the men's room stalls. Enough to make...

Nick Polo, the private detective whom readers last met in Polo's Ponies, has stooped to bodyguard work. Well, why not? All he has to do is "slosh around Pebble Beach a few hours and have the evenings to himself." He's guarding a writer named Jack Slate in Carmel-by-the-Sea, where Slate plans to play in, and Nick plans to watch, a big golf tournament. Slate has been receiving death threats. He is an investigative journalist, and right now he is onto something very hot indeed. Then Slate, and a stranger later identified as an FBI agent, die in the decidedly accidental crash of a small plane...

San Francisco private eye Nick Polo finds that there's more than one wild card in the deck when a high-stakes poker game pushes him into the investigation of some stolen paintings. Soon Polo is in an alphabet soup of law enforcement agencies: FBI, SFPD, even Interpol, as he tries to track down the artwork for its owner, financier Claude Martel. Complicating matters are Mattel's oversexed wife, his vindictive daughter, a resentful son, and a crooked private detective. Polo's job becomes more than just pleasing a client; he must recover the painting for the sake of his own skin. But can he do...

Polo leaves his San Francisco home base to do a favor for an old friend. It sounds simple enough: Fly to London to hand deliver a letter, a check, and a cassette tape to a distant cousin of Polo's friend Raymond Singh. With first-class plane tickets, a hefty expense account, and reservations at the Ritz, how can he refuse? Raymond's cousin Gurbeep Singh proves elusive, though, and in the process of tracking him down, the persistent detective runs into several nasty situations. As Polo delves deeper into Gurbeep's affairs, a dark picture emerges. Undeterred, he continues an investigation that...

"Someone is trying to ruin us. Junior and I have poked around but haven't come up with anything. Our attorney had someone look into it, but came up with nothing. I need a professional. A man with imagination, and guts. Your uncle says you're that kind of man. Can you help me, Mr. Polo?" It sounds like a fun-filled weekend in the country when Nick Polo's reporter friend Jane Tobin invites him up to Sonoma County for the gala opening of the Baroni Estates sparkling wine facility. But the festivities are soon over for Polo as Angelo Baroni, Sr., drags him away to enlist his professional...

A MAN IS KILLED ON A BEACH IN SPAIN. MISSING ARE HIS LAPTOP AND A SECRET DOCUMENT. THE LAPTOP CONTAINS MILITARY SOFTWARE THAT COULD CHANGE THE FACE OF WAR. THE DOCUMENT, CALLED THE PROFESSIO, CONTAINS A DECLARATION THAT COULD DESTROY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. The man's wealthy Spanish family must recover both the laptop and the document-or risk losing everything. The U.S. Military wants the software to revolutionize the defense industry. Foreign powers want the Professio to blackmail the Church. And the Vatican wants the document back-by any means necessary. From their top secret intelligence...